Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Batman: The Animated Series Deluxe Limited Edition on Blu-Ray

IT'S FINALLY HEEERE!


Unfortunately, Amazon did an awful job packaging not just my copy of Batman: The Animated Series on Blu-Ray, but what feels like everybody else's too. Why would your go-to option be an envelope for a long-awaited, limited edition Blu-Ray collection? Oi.

Despite the crushed outer packaging (see below), I'm still super excited! The actual product is so beautiful and this blog post is really just to share all the details that I'm gushing over. Disclaimer, my photos don't do it justice!


The deluxe limited edition came with 3 mini Funko Pops.


It also came with an awesome envelope of lenticular art cards of Batman and a variety of the iconic BTAS villains.


Luckily, the packaging of the Blu-Rays was still pristine. The discs came in a booklet inside a cardboard sleeve.


The book is so pretty!


Every single disc had its own page. Check out all the pages below.


Kind of to my disappointment, the art on every single disc was the same unlike the DVD version.


However, I either didn't do much research or completely missed the memo, but this box set also comes with Blu-Ray versions of Batman animated movie classics Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero. Legitimately excited and I feel like these make this box set even more worth it because I've been putting off buying both of these Blu-Rays for a while. Isn't it nice how things work out?



Each copy comes with a limited edition number sticker (on the smooshed outer packaging) as seen below. It's kind of silly, but just a way to make fans feel special I guess. Heh.


I love it so much and I can't wait to watch it all!

Have you purchased a copy? What limited edition number did you get? If you haven't purchased one yet, pick it up at Warner Bros. They might have better packaging than Amazon! πŸ˜‰

Saturday, September 15, 2018

National Batman Day 2018 Austin Books and Comics Haul


I dropped by Austin Books and Comics today to take advantage of their buy 3 get 1 free on Batman tradebacks sale that they were having for National Batman Day. I was mostly looking for Descender Volume 6 (not Batman related) and the Batman: A Lot of Li'l Gotham (featured here). The local shops here in Texas haven't received their shipment of Descender yet, but I did find some other goodies that I've been meaning to read.


I knew that I wanted to pick up Batman: A Lot of Li'l Gotham after seeing it on Dustin Nguyen's Instagram. It collects the entirety of Li'l Gotham, which we already have in the form of the 2 trades, but this collection comes with some bonus content including rough drafts, cover sketches, and even a couple original stories that came out before Li'l Gotham was even a thing. We're always happy to support Dustin Nguyen in all that he does.


I've been holding out on reading the more recent The Dark Knight: Master Race issues from Frank Miller. It's finally collected in a tradeback so I figured I had to pick it up to see how The Dark Knight Returns and The Dark Knight Strikes Again continue since those trades are so popular.

Perhaps an unpopular opinion, but I'm not really a fan of his style or take on Batman. I appreciate what he's added to the character's history so I still read his stuff to keep myself up to date!


I tried looking for Batman: Vampire since I've never read it, but I think it's old enough where a lot of my local comic book shops aren't carrying it anymore so I'd have to special order it. What ISN'T old though is Scott Snyder's Dark Nights: Metal which is now available as a trade. I was glad to see it on the shelves. I asked the store attendant on where to start since I haven't read any of it and he told me this deluxe edition of Dark Nights: Metal features the main storyline and is a great place to start. For anyone not familiar, I think the gist is that there are 7 evil versions of Batman in a dark multiverse that's just been discovered. That's all I got. I'm just curious how Batman is going to handle it. I'm excited to dive in!


The store attendant also told me that Dark Night: Metal: The Resistance is a storyline that happens at the same time as the main storyline in the other trade I purchased. It shows you what a bunch of other more "minor" characters (featured on the cover) are up to during this whole ordeal.

He told me that there are 4 books total. The other 2 that I'm missing are a prequel and an epilogue of some sort so I'll be keeping an eye out for those once I'm done with these.


As I checked out, one of the employees (whose name I regret and apologize for not getting!) asked if I was Tiffany. When I confirmed, he handed me this cool vintage comic book issue, Batman #195 The Spark-Spangled See-Through Man according to my quick search! He thanked me for always tagging and mentioning them and I guess he saw my birthday post on my IG because he said it was a small token of their appreciation and also a little birthday gift. It was such a nice, unexpected surprise!

If you're reading this, good sir, I'm sorry for being such an awkward weirdo and not properly introducing myself and getting your name at the time! Thank you so much for your kindness!

If you're a comic book reader and you've read any of the trades I picked up above, please let me know what you think! Do you have opinions of any of the above? Anything else you think I should pick up next time? I'm waiting for Super Sons Volume 3, the Batman: White Knight trade, and the Batman: Hush omnibus (which doesn't come out until next year) and I've still got my eye on the Batman: Vampire trilogy, but I'm always open to recommendations! Hit me up in the comments.

Friday, August 31, 2018

My Nerdy Thirty Birthday Pool Party


I am baaaaaaack from a long vacation in Hawai'i with my family (okay, followed by a couple weeks of work so I'm really behind). Hoo boy. It was a family vacation so it had its crazy, frustrating moments because what's family without a few healthy arguments? In the end, it was still a vacation and I'm grateful we could get away from work for a week! I'm glad to be back, though, because I was pooped. As promised, I'm here to bring you updates on my amazing Nerdy Thirty Birthday Pool Party that happened on August 4! I actually turned 30 on August 7, but I'm not tryna turn up on a Tuesday. You know what I mean?

I guess I should technically blog about our trip to San Diego Comic-Con first since that happened before my birthday. I promise to share SDCC happenings and haul, but, if I'm being honest, I was more excited about my Nerdy Thirty, which is why I'm sharing this post first. Hah! πŸ™‚

THEME & PLANNING

You can probably guess what the theme was just based on the name, "Nerdy Thirty." I came up with the idea for a "Nerdy Thirty" when I was probably closer to 28, after I threw Mickey's Dirty Thirty birthday party and thus had more time to think about my own party. I probably started writing down notes and making lists soon after my 29th birthday. Last year, I started telling people about my idea to have a nerd-themed pool party, well before I even booked anything. I was just too excited.

January of this year, I booked a house rental because I figured once the year of my party came around, that wouldn't seem TOO ridiculously early to get things in motion. Heh. I found an amazing, spacious house with a pool and a very cool hostess just 5 minutes from our own house! I explained my plan to the hostess and she was very accommodating (shout out to Kim who made it super easy to throw my party). I made lists of items I needed including decor and food and bought things here and there throughout the year. I wanted to do more early on, but there was a lot I could't do until the month or week before. I was so antsy to continue prepping! It all came together quite nicely the week of.

I did tell all my friends it was a superhero/nerd themed party and I encouraged people to come dressed as superheroes or nerds (open for interpretation). If you were to just walk into the party, though, you'd assume that it was a Batman themed birthday party for sure. I purposely left the theme more open to encourage more people to participate, but I am who I am so I kept all my decor and themed foods Batman-focused. Technically, that still makes it a superhero/nerd themed party. Hehe

FOOD


Speaking of the food, they were my favorite part of planning! I love food puns. For example, for Mickey's "All Gold Everything" Dirty Thirty rap/hip-hop themed party, I had a Snoop Dogg bar (hot dog bar) with Da Bratwursts, DM-CheX Mix, Eminems (obviously), A$AP Cob (corn on the cob), Busta Wines, and more. For my own party, I drew a lot of influence from this blog post from Uncustomary Housewife. She threw herself a Batman/DC Comics-themed birthday and had some great ideas. I incorporated some of her ideas and also looked for inspiration online to come up with the rest. I came up with food themes all based on Batman: The Animated Series characters to keep the theme even more cohesive. I think it turned out great. Check out the themed menu below along with some of my thoughts!

Nightwings (chicken wings)
This was a pretty easy pun to honor Batman's first Robin... and sexiest Robin in my opinion. I was debating between buying chicken wings from a restaurant or buying from the grocery store. I ended up going with the grocery store because I felt it was more affordable, but now I'm not 100% sure if it was. Hah. This pun was a crowd favorite.


Chicken Alfred-o Penne-worth (chicken alfredo cooked in a Killer Croc-kpot)
This is by far my favorite food pun! And I'm proud to say I came up with this one all on my own. I just knew that, given Alfred Pennyworth's name (Batman's loyal butler), there must be a recipe out there with Alfredo sauce and penne pasta in it. I found this recipe on Delish.com and it was super easy and a huge crowd pleaser. I highly recommend it if you're looking to bring something easy yet impressive to a pot luck. I planned to make a separate dish in the crockpot for the Killer Croc reference, but didn't find any other slow-cooker recipes that I liked enough for my theme so having this dish made in a slow-cooker just helped me kill two birds with one stone.

I totally forgot to take a picture of the final product here so shout out to my friend Desiree for taking a picture of this and sending it to me!


Commissioner Gordon Bleu Cups (chicken cordon bleu cups)
Another one that I came up with on my own! It's a bit of a stretch since "Gordon" isn't pronounced the same as "cordon" in this case, but I'm still proud of this one. These were SO good. The recipe is from a blog called Dreaming in DIY. I ended up using eggroll wrappers because I couldn't find wonton wrappers and, once folded, they actually worked really well. I tested a couple at first, which you should too if you're planning to try this for a party!

This was by far my most complicated dish because I had to prep and bake the individual cups morning of the party, but I was very committed to the cordon bleu thing because I couldn't come up with anything else for Commissioner Gordon. I'm glad they came out so beautifully, though! People loved these.


Bat Signal fruit platter
I saw this idea on Pinterest, bought a bunch of blueberries, cut up 2 pineapples, and shaped the fruit into a bat symbol by hand in a tray the night before the party. It took me a lot longer to create the bat symbol than I thought, but I guess that's what happens when you're working with a non-uniform medium. Hah. I think it turned out alright, though. What do you think?


Poison Ivy's Garden vegetable plate
The Uncustomary Housewife went with green M&Ms as Poison Ivy's seeds, but I definitely wanted a vegetable platter at my party and Poison Ivy was an obvious fit. I kept the vegetables green and orange in honor of Poison Ivy's hair from the animated series.


Penguin's Breakfast (Goldfish crackers)
This idea was partially inspired by the Uncustomary Housewife who used Swedish fish but other people online were using Goldfish crackers which is what I went with. Super simple way to incorporate more snacks on the table.


Catwoman's Claws (Bugles)
This was one of the ideas completely lifted from the Uncustomary Housewife's blog. I had a surprisingly hard time finding Bugles. I checked my local grocery stores, Target, etc., but eventually found them at Walgreens of all places. Just FYI in case you're looking for them!


Harley Quinn Hammers (cheese on pretzel sticks)
This was another idea pretty much lifted from the Uncustomary Housewife. I believe she started with a block of cheese, but when doing research online, I noticed that, with the rectangular cheese pieces, the hammers could be referred to as Thor's hammers (Mjolnir) at Marvel/Avengers themed parties. To avoid the confusion, I went with string cheese which were a bit more cylinder shape. My other option was toothpicks in little smokies, but ended up going with the cheese to avoid having to keep the dish warm. Remember, I was at a house rental and wanted to keep things as simple and easy as possible!


Sour Utility Belts (sour belts)
Sour belts are my favorite candy of all time and I'm so glad this was such a perfect and easy fit for the theme. I had a hard time finding affordable orange/yellow sour belts in bulk, but found a mango sour belts option from Amazon that worked really well. They were really good too. The flavor reminded me of dried mangos!

I didn't put too much into the presentation of my food as you can tell. I was more interested in the puns and word play. Heh.


Mr. Freeze Pops (ice pops)
I wish I brought these out from the freezer earlier in the night because 100 freeze pops did not go as quickly as I'd hoped. Hah. I labeled the freezer and even left a pair of scissors on the counter nearby, but nobody really found their way in there. The box of 100 was so affordable from Target, though, and I really liked the idea. Mickey actually came up with it! I heard ALCOHOLIC freeze pops exist. I might spring for those next time depending on how expensive they are. Alcohol would probably get these to disappear much quicker.


Two-Face Cookies (black and white cookies)
These were a bit tricky to find like the Bugles. I thought about baking them myself, but that idea died very quickly due to laziness. I then contacted various bakeries nearby to see if they make them and none of them do! However, one very kind baker mentioned that she likes to get her black and white cookies at Central Market, a local slightly more high end grocery store. Perfect! They were easy to find and super delicious. This idea was inspired by the Uncustomary Housewife as well who went with chocolate/vanilla cookie sandwiches for her Two-Face cookies, but I knew that the black and white cookies existed and was so adamant about finding them because they were just too perfect for the theme. 😍


Joker's Jell-O Shots (green and purple Jell-O shots)
This was really more for the alliteration and the green/purple colors turned out great. Pro tip: When you think you've made enough Jell-O shots for your party, make more. πŸ™‚I realize I didn't take pictures of the actual Jell-O shots, but check out my Instagram story highlight to see me prepping them!

I also stored some beers and other drinks in Mr. Freeze's Ice Box. I obviously couldn't miss that opportunity to label the cooler.


Batgirl Grey Tea Bourbon Punch (Earl Grey tea bourbon punch)
Batgirl? Earl? Easy pun. Since my blog is called Batman and Whiskey, I knew I wanted a themed whiskey cocktail punch. I did a quick search and found this perfect recipe on Bon Appetit. I squeezed all the lemons by hand and, per the recipe, I even made a pretty ice block with lemon, rosemary, and thyme to put in the punch bowl. If you want to make it a bit easier, I recommend buying pre-squeezed lemon juice. I tripled the recipe, but it still went quick so I might just buy pre-squeezed lemon juice next time so I can make more. I would definitely make this punch again! It was yummy. πŸ˜‹


Batmanhattans
Inspired by my bridal cocktail, I provided the ingredients, a jigger, a sign with the recipe, and even some giant ice spheres/cubes at the alcohol table so guests could make their own Manhattans! No Batman straws this time, though.


At the end of the night, we did end up buying maybe 6 pizzas to feed the still hungry masses. Guess I should have invited fewer people or made more of all the food. Heh. πŸ™‚ I'm just glad everybody had fun and got to see my themed food ideas come to life!

DECOR & ACTIVITIES


I kept the decor pretty simple since I didn't want to have to clean up more than necessary at the house rental. It was all actually pretty easy because I got to repurpose some of the decorations from Mickey's 30th birthday. I threw him a black and gold themed party so the colors were easily repurposed for my Batman needs (close enough to black and yellow). I reused some "Happy Birthday" signs as is, rearranged some letters from other signs, and really only had to make a few new letters here and there. The Bat symbol on the main sign is hand cut from a giant roll of black parchment paper that I also purchased for Mickey's 30th. SO USEFUL!


I repurposed some gold Mickey Mouse head silhouettes into gold circular Bat symbols and labeled anything relevant with the awesome Batman: The Animated Series font, which just so happens to be Andes if you're curious. Yes, I even labeled the bathrooms. It comes in handy, you know. You'll notice the same font is used to label everything in the food section above.


I bought tons of balloons for myself. Shout out to Mickey for picking them up! Balloons are a total bitch to put in your car. Hah.

I stuck with the black and gold theme and of course had the giant numbers, your basic milestone celebration accessory. My friends actually came to the party with more balloons including the same Batman one! πŸ˜‚❤️ What a coincidence. They know what I like.


I also included a temporary tattoo station with custom tattoos courtesy of my friends' Etsy shop, Tattitude. Make sure you check out Tattitude! Temporary tattoos are so fun and my friends are amazing people so go support them.

Yes, my temporary tattoo station came complete with a bowl of water, sponges, a trash receptacle, and instructions. I'm extra like that.


My friends sent me some of their designs from their Etsy shop and said they'd be able to customize some stuff special for my party. To keep with the theme, I requested a whiskey inspired design (based on one of their existing beer ones), a Bat symbol with a party hashtag, and my favorite nerd emoji. They actually threw in the design of my face just for fun despite my being opposed to it. I figured no one would want to wear my face, but they hilariously turned out to be the most popular ones. Never underestimate your fun-loving weirdo friends.


I know they aren't all Batman-themed, but a friend gave me some paper superhero masks from his superhero-themed housewarming party earlier in the year so I also displayed those for any guests who might be interested in a superhero accessory for their pool party oufits.


My friends, Lindsay and Jonathan, at Bootheasy generously provided a GIF photobooth. They're always a hit. Go support them. They provide all sorts of fun, interactive booths for your events and they're always coming up with more ideas to make your parties even more awesome.


Also at the party was a Batman piΓ±ata filled with Nerds candies! Yup, even the candies were nerds.


Finally, I held a raffle for Batman and Whiskey themed prize. I initially was just going to provide a bottle of whiskey (went with Basil Hayden because it's yummy and the bottle is pretty) and the Bat signal keychain/bottle opener/screwdriver, but seeing as how I have a ton of extra Batman stuff always lying around the house, I also threw in a copy of The Killing Joke (classic Batman reading material) and a Batman Funko Fabrications plush.


I told you I've been planning this for over a year.

OUTFIT

You bet your girl had her outfit planned out for this event. I wore my all over Bat symbol print bikini from none other than Hot Topic. You'll recognize it from previous blog and Instagram posts. I didn't even bother with other clothes because it's a pool party! I paired the bikini with my bat ears headband and also the all over Bat symbol print silk robe that I wore while getting ready on my wedding day. Both of these were also from Hot Topic. You see a theme? Heh. I wore a fanny pack (one I purchased from a Rich Brian concert actually) most of the day as a pocket to keep my phone in, but I lost it several times anyway. At least I tried!

My sweet friends Luis and Hannah pictured below came dressed as pool-party-ready Robin and Poison Ivy! Points for participation!

Hey, does my Batman floatie count as an accessory? πŸ€”


GIFTS


I have the sweetest friends. I received tons of heartfelt cards and so many bottles of whiskey! On top of that, my co-workers and Micks showered me with SO MUCH SUGAR. I'm talking cheesecakes and cupcakes from Sugar Mama's (winner of Cupcake Wars) for my party and Tiff's Treats cookies delivered straight to the office from Mickey. My co-workers also gifted me my absolute favorite cake from Lady M Cake Boutique, shipped straight from New York, the most magnificent Green Tea Mille Crepes. My heaven would just be unlimited Green Tea Mille Crepes. Blessed. I swear I was on a sugar high for 2 weeks straight.


If you're interested in some of the whisk(e)y I received, there were a couple bottles of Bulleit which is always a solid choice, but a couple friends also gifted me some Balcones, which I had never had before. I actually enjoyed it and thought the finish was smoother than other whisk(e)ys I've had. Will definitely be keeping an eye out for this more often.


I even received some geeky gifts, but I'm assuming you figured as much.

Natasha gifted me a dual folding Batman blade! I've always wanted one of these and always convinced myself that it was too impractical to purchase. BUT YAY FRIENDS LIKE NATASHA! IT'S LIKE A REAL BATARANG... AND SO DANGEROUS. Why does she always buy me the Batman shit I really want, though? πŸ€” She's creepin'. πŸ˜‚❤️ This was purchased on Amazon if you're looking.


My friend Joy gifted me a really cool Batman mug! This one's cool because it illustrates Batman throughout the years, shows how his design has changed over the decades. Adding this one to the kitchen collection! I love the hidden Bat symbol at the bottom of the cup, a sweet surprise when you've finished your beverage.


I also received some really cool laser cut plastic and wooden pieces of my new Batman and Whiskey logo (that my friend Amy designed). Lindsay and Jonathan (who I mentioned own Bootheasy) dropped the little gifts off for me along with the photo booth before they had to leave for another event they were working. The logos have little holes in them in case I'd like to make them into necklaces or something similar. They're too nice. πŸ˜­


Speaking of Amy, she sent me this Pottery Barn Bat-shaped shelf! It's been on my wish list for years, but again, one of those things that I couldn't convince myself to buy. I absolutely love it though. I have to figure out where to put it, but definitely looking forward to using it. If I'm being 100% honest, this was on my wish list... from Potter Barn Kids. πŸ˜


You'll notice there's a little mug on the shelf in the picture, which was also a gift from Amy. She customized a mug with the logo she created printed on it and now I use it almost every day at work! She said yellow wasn't an option on the website, but I love the pop of red she went with (reminds me of Batman Beyond).


All the cards and gifts were so cute and thoughtful. I literally cannot thank people enough and I'm sorry if I have not thanked you straight to your face, but know that I'm grateful for all of y'all for celebrating with me.

I am so happy my 30th birthday party turned out exactly the way I imagined. I'm super proud of myself. I don't think I'll be throwing another themed party for a while, nerdy or otherwise, because of how much work goes into them. You know I'll share it if I do though! What do you think? A Dorky Forty? πŸ˜ƒπŸ˜‰